THE NARCOTICS TRADE

Though difficult to track statistically, the illicit drug business in Lake County shows signs of growth that have enforcement agents scurrying.

Neither the Lake County state's attorney's office nor the Illinois State Police keep records on the number of drug cases from year to year, but figures from the Metropolitan Enforcement Group, or MEG, composed of officers from state, county and village police departments, show that agents confiscated more than $400,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine in 1990 and $17 million in 1991.

MEG made 106 drug arrests in fiscal 1989, 281 in 1990 and 365 in 1991. It seized 1,291 grams of cocaine and 8,859 grams of marijuana in '89, 34,000 and 1,248 respectively in '90 and 1,788,783 and 44,797 respectively in '91.

Rodney Chesser, deputy director of MEG, attributed some of the increase to the fact that MEG has stepped up investigations and is going after bigger dealers, "but at the same time," he said, "the narcotics are still here and are increasing."

As for drug use, statistics are equally scarce, but to establish a base line from which to make later comparisons, in October 1992 the Fighting Back Project, a consortium of community groups aimed at fighting alcohol and drug abuse, released a May survey of 11th graders in Lake County. Though alcohol was the leading drug by far, with nearly half saying they drink regularly, about 28 percent said they had tried marijuana, and 11.5 percent had used hallucinogens such as LSD.

Drugs and money change hands not only in dark alleys but in broad daylight, in spacious suburban homes, in schools and restaurant parking lots. And the influence of gangs is unmistakable.

The efforts to fight drug dealers, from the street punk selling $10 "rocks" of crack cocaine to covert dealers handling $500,000 of cocaine at a time, have intensified to where they often resemble military operations.

And until someone figures out how to keep people from buying, selling and using drugs, or until the focus of the drug war changes, the assault team approach will be a big weapon.

The seconds preceding the breaking down of a door by heavily armed and armored police officers with a battering ram follows months and even years of painstaking fact-finding to where officers know the exact layout of their objective.

"The primary thing that's on your mind is the safety of your men," said Waukegan Police Sgt. Wayne Hunter, head of that city's narcotics unit, describing what goes through an officer's mind seconds before entering a home or apartment where a suspected drug dealer lives. "There's no way of ever predicting what's on the other side of the door.

The Waukegan and Zion Police Departments maintain their own narcotics units, which almost always work together, and each of those departments contributes manpower to MEG. The Lake County Sheriff's Department is responsible for the unincorporated areas of the county.

Sgt. Doug Malcolm, head of Zion's narcotics task force, said his men are able to secure an entire house in 10 seconds or less. It's a matter of safety as well as ensuring recovery of the drugs at which the operation is targeted, he said.

"If it takes longer than that, then it gives the people inside a chance to get their weapons and get rid of their drugs," Malcolm said. "A lot of them keep it somewhere where they can get rid of it fast.

"We have gone to houses and have reached in toilets where the drugs are circling around in the whirlpool of a flushing toilet and pulled out as much as we can," Malcolm said. "That's how close it's been sometimes."

Sgt. Larry Mason of MEG said it is difficult to quantify any increase in drug use among county residents.

"It seems that you win the war against one drug, and another takes its place in popularity," Mason said. "Some drugs have staying power, others are just a fad but may come back in popularity later.

"It also depends on what part of the county it is," he said. "Just when you think you're winning in one place, (the drug) pops up in another."

Cash, cars, houses and other property confiscated in local raids totaling more than $100,000 each in Zion and in Waukegan yearly are used to support and equip the drug fighters in Waukegan, Zion and MEG.

Drugs reach Lake County from such places as Peru and Colombia by way of Miami, California, Canada, Texas and Louisiana. Some go through Chicago and Milwaukee, but Waukegan also is becoming a distribution center, getting drugs directly from Mexico, Florida, Arizona and New Mexico, according to Mason.

They are shipped by airplane, boat, car, train, mail, even overnight delivery services. And the popularity of all drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, crack and heroin, has not waned.

LSD is experiencing a comeback, especially among teens, according to police. It can be placed on stamp-sized pieces of blotter paper to create "blotter acid," and it can be mailed in inconspicuous envelopes.

For some, the profit incentive can be too difficult to resist. An ounce of cocaine costs a dealer $900 to $1,200 and can be divided and sold for 10 times as much, $12,000, Mason said.

It's no wonder that many seemingly respectable suburban residents have chosen drug dealing rather than a more conventional profession to support their comfortable lifestyles. No one knows how many get away with it.

But the connection between gangs and drugs is unavoidable. There are 11 known gangs in Waukegan alone and so many drug dealing gang members that county police agencies are setting up a new computer system to keep track of them all.

The money for the computer system is not available in public funds, but drug enforcement officers hope to get it from asset seizures such as the money collected from large-scale busts as well as from private grants and donations.

Lake County MEG will be hooked in, as well as the state's attorney's office and Waukegan police, and eventually all police departments in the county.

Though Waukegan and Zion have the highest-profile anti-drug operations, the problem exists elsewhere.

Deerfield Police Chief Richard Brant said there has been no gang problem in Deerfield, although he admitted that drugs were in the community.

"We have seen no gang activity in town," he said. "Drugs we always have. Everyone has drug activity."

He added that the department has one full-time officer working in the field of drug prevention in local schools, through the Officer Friendly program.

Two other communities that are working to control gangs and/or drugs are Round Lake Beach and Highland Park.

The village of Round Lake Beach has been sponsoring a drug-awareness program in the local schools for four years. Round Lake Beach also participates in MEG, identifies local gang members, covers up graffiti wherever it appears and has put out an information packet on how to identify gang members.

Highland Park also enjoys cooperation between the village, the police department and the local schools through groups such as Highland Park Citizens for Drug Awareness and village agencies such as the Department of Youth Services.

These two groups are involved in sponsoring community anti-drug activities and educational programs in the schools.

And children are not only at risk as users; Hunter said drug dealing also involves youngsters, with 14- and 15-year-olds who live in drug-trafficking areas making $500 a week as lookouts for drug dealers, to alert them when police show up.

"I've seen 12-year-old males who are 5-foot-8, and in no way did I view them as a child," Hunter said. "Does he know right from wrong? He absolutely should at that age."

One of Hunter's worst memories involving drugs and children occurred in December 1987 in Waukegan, when he and his men arrested a man putting up a Christmas tree with his 7-year-old son.

"It was heart-wrenching," Hunter said. "It was one of the most terrible experiences I've ever had. And when we separated him from his father, which we had to do, for his safety as well as ours, he kept saying, `Dad, when are we going to finish setting up the Christmas tree? When are you coming home, Dad? You're going to be with me on Christmas, aren't you, Dad?' "

Only time will tell, whether the computer system, the investigations, the seizures of funds and arrests of big dealers will cut into the illegal drug industry in Lake County.

Zion's Malcolm pointed out that even on the punitive end, authorities must make a draw: "To put a drug dealer in jail, you have to let someone out the front end. The question is, Who are you going to put in jail, a non-violent drug dealer who's never hurt anybody or let out a murderer or rapist?

"We can't worry about who goes to jail. We have to do our work by the rules or it won't stand up in court. It does no good to arrest a dope dealer if he gets let out on a technicality. A lot of cases, it's not a matter of innocence or guilt, it's a big dance with technicalities and procedure instead of a search of the truth."